Yesterday we started to make my new life dreams come true
when we took my harp to Clive Morley Harps in the Cotswold for a service.
I was so excited that I woke up stupidly early like a little kid at
Christmas. (Then - wouldn't you know - fell asleep at 5.45 and woke up
feeling all 'discombobulated')
We
found the little hamlet of Filkins and followed our directions down the
lanes. Eventually we came to the converted barns that house the
business. Here are some of the gorgeous harps in the pedal harp sales
room...
The harps on the right are modern instruments with attractive gilt finishes
on the soundboards and carved details on the towers. The harps on the
left are much older. The first one is exactly like my first harp... a
19th Century French instrument made by Erard. It was lovely to see a harp
like this in good condition (generally harps don't age well).
We left my harp, all wrapped up in its covers, in a side room. On Tuesday it is going to have a complete new set of strings, the pedals will be re-wrapped and the mechanism is going to be checked. They are also going to tidy up some cracks in the varnish on the soundboard. It's going to be as good as new! If all goes well, we should be able to go back and collect it next weekend. You can probably guess what I plan to do with my two weeks Christmas holiday!!
I also had a phone call this week - completely out of the blue - from someone wanting harp lessons. I'm meeting her over the Christmas break. It all feels really good......!
The harp is such a beautiful instrument to look at and listen to. It must have been a good experience to take your harp to have it checked over and receive attention from the specialist company. I'm sure you'll get lots of students who want lessons... that's really good to hear and I hope you're feeling a lot better now too. (I've just realised you're blogging again on Blogger and I'm following on your new blog).
ReplyDeleteI've never known anyone who can play a harp. The music festival which Eleanor competes in doesn't have a harp class as there's no call for it. The parents of a very young girl enquired about it and as a result, the little girl brought her small harp and played, but there was no one for her to compete against. It would be lovely to see more people take up this instrument.
ReplyDeleteOoooooooooooooooooh, I am salivating over all the harps!!! Wow! Clive Morley harps are beautiful. So exciting to get it serviced! I MUST get my flute serviced this holiday- it's been a LONG time!
ReplyDeleteYou reminded me of a harp piece, Legend by Renier-I adore it! DO you know it? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hts59KMyXKE
xx
I am so impressed. Harps are beautiful as is the sound that comes out of them. How wonderful to be able to play and to teach yes, I'm really impressed! Suzy x
ReplyDeleteMy Godson had a Harpist playing whilst we ate at his wedding - very in demand I hear. I don't think you are going to be bored xxx
ReplyDeleteYou're so clever, its a truely magical instrument.
ReplyDeleteHow exciting to have an enquiry about lessons. As others have said, the harp is both aesthetically beautiful and wonderful to listen to.
ReplyDeleteMy kindergarten teacher played the harp. Now, this is back in 1943 when the school buildings were old and didn't have gyms. We had a big round hallway, that we used to play for recess during the winter. It was also the place for Christmas programs. All of us kids would sit on the floor and watch the program. The favorite program was when Mrs. Blair brought her harp and played Christmas carols for us.
ReplyDeleteYou brought back this wonderful memory. Enjoy your harp....I can almost hear it playing.
Merry Christmas,
Balisha